Nov 23 Album Spotlight: Casper McWade

Thanksgiving is all about great food, family, and being thankful for everything in your life. As an added bonus this year, Oklahoma native, Casper McWade is giving everyone the gift of a full length, live recorded album. Hello Lonesome, recorded live at SG Studies in Ft. Worth, Tx, was released on all digital platforms on Thanksgiving Day! The album features thirteen tracks with ten original tunes and three covers. This album is a MUST listen for fans of independent, real country music over this holiday weekend. Go out and get it, then read the review right here.

Photography courtesy of Melissa Payne Photography

The title track on the album, Hello Lonesome, is a cowrite with fellow bandmate on the production, Danny Trashville. The tune “…was written the night before we went to the studio. Myself and my brother Danny Trashville stayed up till sunlight writing and drinking”-Casper McWade. The track opens up with that soft, pleasant, fiddle sound, courtesy of David Short. “Goodbye happiness / I knew you wouldn’t stay / Sometimes we get lost / Trying to find our way.” This song provides the listener with a roller coaster ride of emotions through the masterful, real lyrics and vocals of Casper McWade. The tune encompasses all the emotions of being on the highest of highs in life and then being beat back down to the state of loneliness over and over again. “It’s about how we always find ourselves back in that “Lonesome” situation”-McWade.

My Oh My is another original song that is featured on this album. The tune is a dark tale that evolved straight out of the dream world of Casper McWade. This murder ballad is a magnificent tale of a wife that is out running around town with another man. “My Oh My is a song that we wrote some years back about a dream I had of killing my wife. She had been sleeping around and everyone know but me”-McWade. While the entire town is aware of the affair, the husband has been left in the dark. Once aware of his wife’s infidelity, the ballad begins. “My heart aches for the last time / Heard she was out with a new one / Took along my big gun / Dropped her off where the river runs / I know they’ll never find her.” On a personal note, this song is on the shortlist for songs of the year. McWade has sculpted the perfect murder ballad with a simple dream of killing his own wife.

Photo courtesy of Melissa Payne Photography

Silver Buttons is the final tune that I am going to highlight for this review. This is a personal tune for McWade that incorporates childhood memories of his aunt and uncle. His uncle was a veteran of the war in Vietnam. Casper recalls not being able to play pretend war games or use toy guns as a child, as it was forbidden. “Silver Buttons is a song I wrote about my uncle who is a Vietnam vet. When I was a kid we weren’t allowed to play war games or watch movies with gunfire. My aunt would just stare at his uniform that had silver buttons”-McWade. Even though this song is personal for Casper, the tune can be felt and attributed to many other things that we feel are missing in our own lives. The song is a fundamental masterpiece of a heartstring jerker that deserves some attention, respect, and notoriety from listeners of this album.

Folks listen up. I am going to keep the summary short and sweet this time around. Casper McWade and The Honky Tonk Rebels have given us a very legitimate Thanksgiving Day dish with this album. Go get it and not only support a hard-working independent Oklahoma artist, but you will receive a record that NEEDS to be spinning on your current playlist.

Casper would also like to thank Christa, Connor and Casey who have my back all the way to wherever this road is going. Tim and Jean Ledford and all things Ledford house. My brothers Trashville and Shorty for makin’ a killer record with me. Roger Alan Wade. GhostTown Ranch. Susie and Marty at Amnesia Too. The city of Hereford, Rhode Island. Tim and Annie Slagle (and Don too). Johnny Glass. My awesome band The Honky Tonk Rebels. Scott Youtsey and Jimmy Wade. Jameson Irish Whiskey. Jeb Brown. Cody Jinks. Betty White for only leaving me stranded once. Rebels-Devils. Buck Bennett. Scott Green. DaT Sauce. Last Honky Tonk Music Series. Honky Tonk Hotel in Blue Springs, MO. Jameson Iris Whiskey. All the venues that keep believing. And if I didn’t get your name on here, I may have been drinkin’.